Pope John Paul II dies - Germany / Federal Republic of Germany 2005 - 55 Euro Cent

With worldwide sympathy John Paul II died on the evening of April 2, 2005 after a long illness at the age of 84 years. He had headed the Catholic Church for more than 26 years. He was the first non-Italian man in the Petri chair for 455 years and the first Polish Pope in history. John Paul II was born on 18 May 1920 as Karol Józef Wojtyla in Wadowice near Krakow. In 1946 he was ordained a priest. Later he taught as a professor of moral theology and social ethics at the Major Seminary in Krakow and at the Theological Faculty of the University of Lublin. In 1964 he was Pope Paul VI. appointed Archbishop of Krakow and elevated to cardinal in 1967. The year 1978 went down in history as the three-prong year: after the death of Paul VI. On August 6, John Paul I was elected Pope on August 26th. He died on September 28 of the same year. Cardinal Karol Wojtyla was elected pope on October 16, 1978, and was appointed to office on October 22, 1978.